faith

Discipleship Is Practical

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Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
Matthew 28: 19, 20

Discipleship is one of the key responsibilities Jesus gave to the church. As the verse above says, Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of others by teaching them everything that Jesus had commanded. Most discipleship is purely focused on teaching people spiritual truths: how to read and study the Bible, how to pray, how to hear God, and so on. These are incredibly important for every believer.

But I want to suggest that we need to recognize that discipleship is also very practical. Discipleship needs to include the practical aspects of serving and leading in a church. It might be as simple as helping volunteers plan how to set up for the next church potluck or teaching others how to run the sound board or set up the PowerPoint slides for Sunday’s service. It may include teaching musicians how to pick music, how to set up each of the instruments in the band, and how to do well at leading in music as well as leading in worship. Discipleship may include teaching a new chairman of the Elders board how to plan for and run a meeting. Even things like showing a new cleaning crew how to clean the church well is an aspect of discipleship. Don’t think you need to do all of these things as the pastor, but help those who know how to do these things to teach others.

I recently heard a volunteer complain that he was the only one who put away the chairs and tables after the potluck. Others saw him stacking chairs and hauling them away, but hardly anyone else stopped their conversation with friends to help clean up.

I understand and feel the frustration of a volunteer like that who sees a need and makes sure it is met. What needs to happen is practical discipleship. The volunteer who sees the need and knows what to do needs to learn how to recruit others to help, while respecting conversations that are happening. Sometimes it seems that doing things yourself is easier because you know what to do and where things go. It takes time to explain and show others how to do something, but unless you equip others, you will always be doing it by yourself, and what started out as a fun way to serve becomes a frustrating experience.

Here are some practical ways that the volunteer in the above story could disciple others. A first step may be to determine everything that needs to be done in this task, and the steps to make it happen. Sometimes these need to be in order and other times they do not, depending on the situation. A detailed sheet can be posted or handed out to new volunteers so they know exactly what is needed and how they can participate. For example, if a meal is planned, an appropriate number of volunteers can be recruited and shown the detailed to-do list. They can be clearly told what time to arrive so they will be ready for the event. The “discipler” who is used to setting up and taking down tables and chairs can still be there the first time or two to ensure that it is done right and that each new “disciple” knows how to do it.

Even if no recruits had been arranged beforehand, the experienced volunteer could have recruited a few people to help. Often, if people are asked and clearly told what is needed, they will respond. Unfortunately, those who know what to do often assume others do to, but that is not the case. People often need to be led, even in the simple case of putting away tables and chairs.

So practical discipleship includes recruiting people, preferably ahead of time, for a specific task. It involves having a clear understanding of what is needed, defined in a clearly written and posted list. And it involves the experienced one being available to guide the disciples until they know how to do it on their own.

Yes, discipleship must have a spiritual aspect and focus on growing as followers of Jesus, but practical discipleship is also highly important.

May God guide you as you disciple others in practical ways.

And please comment with suggestions of what has worked for you to do practical discipleship.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

January Joy!

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If you are not experiencing “January Joy” right now, that may be for a few reasons. One may simply be that the holiday fun and family get-togethers are over. Either you miss your family or you are frustrated because things didn’t turn out the way you had hoped. The emotional and sentimental church activities like Christmas Eve Service have come and gone and it’s easy to feel an emotional slump. For some pastors, December is extremely busy so the slower days of January feel like a letdown.

Maybe January brought New Years Resolutions, and you have already failed at keeping them. The second Friday of January is widely known as “Quitters Day,” and some mark January 17 as “Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day.” The optimism of new goals and plans can take quite the hit when the pessimism of unfulfilled goals and failed habits becomes reality.

Some talk about January blahs and others talk about winter blues. One psychologist, Dr. Cliff Arnall, determined that the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year, labelling it “Blue Monday” (https://westernfinancialgroup.ca/How-to-Beat-the-January-Blahs). This is made more severe if the sun forgets to shine and the weather is cold and its hard to spend much time outdoors. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects some people severely, along with serious episodes of depression. And on top of the emotional and mental difficulty, there can be financial difficulty as the credit card bills start arriving for all the fun gifts you bought and parties you funded.

January Joy is not something people celebrate because for many people that is far from reality. I want to suggest some ways to beat the January blahs that go beyond the regular suggestions of exercise, eating right, and getting enough sleep.

First, turn to God and to His Word. Consider the psalms, like Psalm 100. Read them slowly and allow them to remind you of how great God is and how much He loves you and cares for you.

Psalm 100

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

2     Worship the Lord with gladness.

    Come before him, singing with joy.

3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

    He made us, and we are his.

    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

    go into his courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good.

    His unfailing love continues forever,

    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Second, listen to music. Find some good music that celebrates our good God. Listen, sing along, and begin to rejoice in our great God and His goodness to us.

Third, start giving thanks. Start listing all you are grateful for. Thank God for people in your life. Thank God for the joys you have experienced. Thank God for His protection and provision in your life. Celebrate God and his love for you.

And soon you will be full of January Joy and have no room for January blahs or winter blues. You can’t complain and remain discouraged when you are singing praises and shouting out all that you are thankful for. Have a great January!

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Wait Patiently for God to Break Through

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This morning, I was sitting in my big chair reading when I glanced to my left, taking in the snow-covered yard and the drab-looking trees on my lawn. Everything had that winter grey look, when something caught my eye. Off in the distance, I noticed two large spruce trees. They, too, were covered in snow like the trees in my yard, but they were emitting a warm orange glow. The sun was coming up! And it was already shining over my house and lighting up trees in the distance.

Maybe your life feels a little grey right now. Pastors, church leaders, maybe your ministry feels a little drab right now. You have made it through the highs of Christmas, both with the church and with your family, and now you are experiencing the post-Christmas letdown. Or maybe it’s even more than that. You have been feeling a little discouraged or disappointed for a while. You don’t see the excitement you have at other times. It seems as if God is not working like you wish he was.

It’s time to lift your eyes to the distance. Maybe you need to look around, behind you, beside you, and out to the horizon. God is breaking through. God is at work, though not always in the same powerful way in every situation. If it’s not right in front of you or in your immediate experience, look up and look out. Where is God working? According to Jesus, God is always at work. Maybe He is working in a ministry you haven’t been paying attention to. Is it possible you have been too busy to see where He is already breaking through?

A little later, as I glanced up again, I noticed that the trees in my yard were now also beginning to reflect that early morning orange glow of the rising sun as it was climbing up over my house. It’s hard to wait on God and to wait for Him to work in our ministries, but sometimes we need to persevere in our waiting for Him to come with His power in His time. Sometimes we need to wait on Him just a little longer until we see His glow reflected in the ministries that feel a little drab right now.

If God is seemingly not working in your ministries right now or stirring your church members’ hearts like you wish, continue to wait. As you wait, look out and around to see if God is working somewhere else and you need to join Him there. As you wait, wait on the Lord. Continue to trust Him, continue to talk with Him, and wait.

Psalm 27:14 encourages us: “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” The psalmist asks God for help but declares he will confidently wait on God. Just as we know the sun always rises and will break into the day every morning, we can live with the confidence that our God will always break through for us as we patiently wait for Him.

Wait patiently for God to break through and make His presence and power real and noticeable.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Life-Enhancing Goals!

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“Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest.”

Proverbs 20: 4

“You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”

James 4:15

The one who has no goals in life will have nothing to live for. We all need purpose, and part of that purpose is to accomplish things, whether for oneself, for others, or for the betterment of the world around us. I don’t really like New Year’s Resolutions as they are often unrealistic dreams with no clear steps to accomplish them, but I do like the idea of asking God to guide us in setting meaningful goals that will help us live with purpose.

The one who has no goals will be like the lazy farmer who doesn’t plow and seed and harvest because he has no drive to make it happen. Instead, we ought to ask God what His will is for our lives. In James 1:5 we are told, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.” Let’s ask God for wisdom in how to set meaningful goals for our next year.

Spiritual Growth Goals: Set some goals that will help you to grow spiritually.

  • These may include reading the Bible and prayer, when you will do it, how often, and how much of the Bible you want to read. Many people follow a plan that guides them through the whole Bible in one year.
  • These goals may include reading books on spiritual growth – maybe even books that challenge your thinking and stretch your understanding of God and how He works today.
  • Maybe you can find a course or seminar that teaches you to grow spiritually.
  • Or determine to practice some new spiritual disciplines.

Ministry or Serving Goals: Set some goals about how you will serve others or serve in the church.

  • Maybe you need to try serving in a new area of ministry in the church.
  • Maybe you can find a place to serve in your community. It may be serving the poor or underprivileged. It may mean serving on a community board or committee.
  • Maybe there is some training that you need to take to become better equipped to serve somewhere. Look for a course that will help you develop new skills.

Health Goals: Set some goals that will help you be at your best health.

  • Decide what you will do for exercise, how often, where, and so on.
  • You might want to adjust your menu so you eat healthier meals.

Personal Growth: Set some goals to grow personally.

  • This could be through setting a goal for the type of books you will read or how much time you will spend reading each month.
  • Look for experiences to enter into – like a retreat or a mission trip, and make it a goal to arrange your budget and schedule to attend.
  • Maybe you will regularly set aside time to learn and practice a new skill – like knife making or cake baking.
  • Maybe you want to study a new language.
  • Imagine what you want your life to be like in ten years and build a plan to achieve that by setting short-term goals along the way

May God guide you as you ask Him for wisdom to become the person He longs for you to be. Ask Him to guide you to the right goals and how to achieve them.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Blog Train Yourself to Be Godly #10: Working for Jesus

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*Training yourself to be godly may include viewing your work as working for Jesus.

Who are you working for?

When asked this question, you might think of the name of your boss or the company you work for. Some of you might think, “Well, I work for my family, it doesn’t matter who signs my paycheque or who gives me orders for the day, it’s all so I can provide for my family.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Here are a few ideas on how to give glory to God in our work.

1.         Work as if Jesus were your boss!

Colossians 3:23 tells us: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Work willingly, work hard, as if you are serving the Lord. Do your work as if you are working for Jesus.

This verse is in the context of Paul writing to slaves, encouraging them to please their masters all the time, even when they are not being watched. Paul expects that slaves, Christian slaves, should be great workers for their human masters, as if they are serving Jesus! If they are to do so, how much more should we who choose to work where we do!!

I wonder if our work ethic would change if Jesus were our boss?

2.         Work as a witness to Jesus

If the people you work with or serve know that you call yourself a Christian, but you are a terrible employee, what would make them interested in being a Christian?

In Titus 2: 9-10, Paul again addresses slaves when he writes: “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

One might think a slave might have a good excuse not to work hard, or to find any way they could take advantage of their master, since they are being taken advantage of by them, but Paul encourages them to do their best so they might make the “teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” He expects that how they work will reflect well on God or not.

In his book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”, Brother Lawrence writes about how one can practice God’s presence no matter the task. His job was a thankless job of cleaning pots and pans, but he is well known for his consistent and joyful devotion to Jesus in the middle of his daily, menial work.

Practice God’s presence at work by talking with Jesus as you go about your day, Remember that he is a constant companion.

3.         Don’t let work take the place of Jesus – Or don’t make work your idol!

Some people are consumed with their work. They work all the time. They can’t stop. They don’t take time for their family, or to enjoy life, or to enjoy time with God. Their whole identity is wrapped up in their job – their position or their status or their power that comes with their job. Simply put… for some, work becomes their idol.

Do you know what God did after six days of the work of creating? He rested! Genesis 2: 2-3 tells us: “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

God ceased from all his work.

There must be a time for us to stop. There must be a time to say, “Enough”.

One way of preventing work from becoming an idol is to take a day off. Take a day to rest, take a day to stop, take a day to focus on the One you Worship. Refocus yourself at least once a week on the one you are truly serving, and on the one you should find your identity in, not in your work. God commanded the Israelites to remember the Sabbath every week.

The Discipline of Sabbath is not just about rest, but an opportunity to refocus regularly on God as the one we worship! It is a constant reminder that we live for God, not for our work. We are to find our identity in Him, not in our work.

View your work as working for Jesus, to honour him, and to use it as a witness to Him.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #9: Created to Work

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*Training yourself to be godly may include how you view your work.

The average person spends 90,000 hours (that’s around 10 years) over the course of their lifetime working.[i]

A 2023 survey of Canadians suggested 80% of workers were satisfied with their jobs. At the same time, another survey indicated 33% of workers plan to look for a new job next year. .

60% of workers feel burned out.[ii] 77% of workers reported experiencing work-related stress.[iii]

One statistic stated: Only about a quarter of employees worldwide are actively engaged in their work.[iv] Though many seem to find enjoyment in their work, it’s not uncommon to hear people saying they are “Working for the weekend” – or “Thank God it’s Friday”.

Even some of our jokes are funny because we generally live in a society that doesn’t like work.

My boss told me to have a good day, so I left and went to the beach.

My boss told me I’d missed too much work lately. I told him I hadn’t missed it much.

We often think of work as fulfilling duties regularly for wages or a salary. It’s about making money. Yet there is more to it. Work is also exerting strength or energy to do or perform something; it involves being creative, using skill, and producing something.

Work shows up very early in our Bible.

Often, the first thought about work is that it’s a result of the Fall, or a result of humanity’s sin and God’s judgment. Genesis 3:17-19 gives God’s judgment on Adam: “the ground is cursed because of you.” We see life becoming more difficult as a result of sin.

But this does not say that work is a result of the Fall. The judgment is not work. The judgment is difficult and sweaty work!

While we tend to think of work as a result of sin, it is actually part of the world before sin. God tells Adam in Genesis 2:15 that he has a role to play in this garden God made for him. He is to “Work it and take care of it” (NIV).

Even before that, in Genesis 1: 28 God gave the people he created a role to play in creation: “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’”

Work is not a result of sin but was the first responsibility and role for humans! Along with being fruitful and multiplying, people were to govern and reign. Work is part of that governing and reigning, doing what is good for the world around us.

Work is about contributing to the good of our world. We all need something meaningful to do with our lives. We all have ways of contributing to the good of our world – to “work” in some way.

God has blessed us all with various gifts and passions and skills. Many of us have learned other skills through formal education or experience. We have gained ways of working and contributing to the “governing and reigning,” the “ruling” over the world that God created humans to do.

Hopefully, you have a job that you are created for, that fits, that feels like you are being who God created you to be! If not, ask Him to guide you to where you fit better.

As we think of Spiritual Disciplines and Practices associated with work, there are a few that we will look at in the next blog, but here’s one: The Discipline of Serving.

Mark 10:45 says: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Discipline of Serving says, “I will choose to use whatever abilities and skills I have to work for the betterment of others, serving them. Not working for my own benefit alone, but also for theirs!”

We are created to work and have the opportunity to serve others in the process.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

[i] https://www.worldofwork.ca/by-the-number

[ii] Calm’s Voice of the Workplace Report

[iii] APA’s Work in America Survey

[iv] https://www.worldofwork.ca/by-the-numbers

Train Yourself to Be Godly #8: Honouring Your Body in a Way That Honours Christ.

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*Training yourself to be godly may include honouring your body.

So you must honour God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

There is a website that lists 20 Famous Temples to Visit Once in Your Lifetime. These are incredible works of art and design.

A temple not on the list but would have been great to see is King Solomon’s Temple. Before Solomon built a temple, God had Moses and the Israelites build a Tabernacle, a tent. This is described in Exodus 25 – 40. We are given all kinds of details about what the Tabernacle was to be like, how to design it, what colours to use, who was to design and build or sew it, and what kind of furniture was needed.

And then we come to Exodus 40: 35. “Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle”. God came and lived on earth in the temple. Leviticus goes on to explain the role of priests who served in the tabernacle and details about sacrifices that were done at the tabernacle.

Many years later, when the Israelites are in the Promised Land, God asks Solomon to build Him a temple, a more permanent place of worship. There are four chapters in 1 Kings dedicated to describing the details of this temple (1 Kings 5-8) including measurements and designs and decorations to be used. 2 Chronicles gives us even more details about the temple in another six chapters(2 Chronicles 2-7).

“When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it” (2 Chronicles 7:1-2).

God comes in fire and smoke to dwell in the Temple. God comes to live in, dwell in this Temple, and He gave very specific, detailed instructions to ensure it was designed, built, and furnished just right. Think about how much detail, all those chapters of details, went into this place that God would choose to live in here on earth.

The Bible tells us that God no longer lives in a temple of stone, but in the hearts of believers. In 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17 we read: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”

Did you catch that? Now, the temple is us!!

Let’s look at one more scripture. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.”

God is no longer living in a physical building, but in His people, and specifically in each one of us as believers. And the exhortation is to “honour God with your body”.

John 14: 23 says, “Jesus replied, ‘All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with each of them.’”

Jesus, by the Spirit lives in us! The Father by the Spirit lives in us! We are the temple of God.

The phrase, “So you must honour God with our body” comes after a warning to flee sexual immorality. Many, if not all sins we commit, we do by using our bodies.

  • We lie by using our mouth.
  • We listen to gossip by our ears.
  • We lust for things with our eyes.
  • We dwell on temptations with our minds until we act on them or say no to them.
  • We hit with hands and use our feet to walk into places we shouldn’t.

But the very same body can…

  • Use the mouth to speak words of encouragement.
  • Use the ears to listen to a grieving friend.\
  • Use our eyes to see the needy around us and help them.
  • Use our minds to consider ways to help others.
  • Use our hands and feet to help in practical ways – and to walk into church and lift our hands in worship!

We need to honour God with our bodies, to recognize that we are the Temple of God, and then to invite Him to take up residence in our lives as he did at the Temple. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you as you surrender your body to be used for his honour.

We will look at a few spiritual disciplines next week, but for now, as you think of training yourself to be more godly, recognize that your body is a gift from God that He chooses to live in, so honour God with your body.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #7: The Encouragement of Fellowship

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*Training yourself to be godly may include fellowship and community.

It is a joy to be part of a church family that truly loves each other and cares for each other. There are some churches where people are truly experiencing fellowship as they encourage each other to become more like Jesus.

Hebrews 10: 19-25 gives a great description of what this fellowship can and should look like. It begins with a reminder that all believers are together in their relationship with Jesus. “We” can boldly enter the Most Holy Place – we – not just you, or just me, but the idea is that “we” can. And not just the people of the Old or New Testament. Not just Jews.

He is using inclusive language – as in “we are in this incredible journey of relationship with God together.” We are all on the same road to heaven, not on a bunch of unrelated individual roads or journeys, but we are on this journey of relationship with God through faith in Jesus together.

And then, in verses 23 -25, the author describes how we should be encouraging each other in our life with Jesus.

Verse 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm…

Let “us” hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm. “Us”. We are not clinging to that hope – that life raft – by our self. Our hope in Jesus is not something we have to hold onto alone. We are invited to hold onto our hope in Him together!

Verse 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let “us” think of ways to motivate one another. This may require a little creativity, we need to find ways of encouraging each other. The NIV says it like this: let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

The Greek word for “spur” actually means: provocation, stirring up, sharp disagreement. We are to provoke one another to good deeds.

So the NIV is right. A spur in the side of a horse gets it moving. A spur in your side from a Christian brother or sister may get you moving in the right direction as a follower of Jesus – provoking you to consider getting involved in acting out your faith. We are to stimulate our brothers and sisters in their journey with Jesus.

Our journey with Jesus was never meant to be a solitary voyage. I have a friend who loves canoeing. This summer, he went on a 10-day canoe trip, all by himself. While that is fun for him, that is not the right picture of the Christian life. The Christian life might be best pictured by a voyageur canoe, or those Chinese Dragon boats. It is many people working together and pulling in the same direction.

Verse 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…

There are some who think they can have a personal faith in Jesus and a relationship with God, and they don’t need anyone else. That is not the picture of the Bible. We need to be intentional about meeting together. This is about more than joining others in a worship service but to meet together to encourage each other in our Christian life.

We need each other. We need to meet so we can spur each other on. We need to live life in connection with each other.

To encourage one another is to give one another courage. There are times one person has more courage than another. One person’s faith is stronger at one point than another. One person is discouraged or un-couraged and needs to be en-couraged!

Let’s finish with something practical. Here are some “Fellowship Questions” you can ask of each other when you meet with another believer. Move beyond the weather and sports and the latest hobby you are learning to finding ways of encouraging each other in our walk with Jesus.

1.         What have you been reading in the Bible lately?

2.         What have you been learning about your walk with Jesus?

3.         Do you have sense of how God is using you or wants to use you to love and do good deeds?

4.         Where are you discouraged or feeling down in your life?

5.         How can I encourage you or pray for you today?

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #6: Fellowship and Community

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*Training yourself to be godly may include fellowship and community.

Because of our North American independent mindset, many of us have missed the point that much of scripture addresses the Christian life with an expectation of connection. This is expressed and experienced in fellowship and community.

A simple definition for fellowship I heard is this: it’s two fellows in a ship. While this gets to the idea of fellowship, it is much more than two or more people in close proximity.

Fellowship (koinonia in Greek) is about “partnership, participation, sharing, communicating, and communing together”.

David Mathis defines fellowship as “less like friends gathered to watch the Super Bowl, and more like players on the field in blood, sweat, and tears, huddled in the backfield only in preparation for the next down.”Fellowship is joining in together with others to encourage and comfort and lift up. To do the “one another’s” of the Bible to each other: love one another, encourage one another, and so on.

Community is another word for fellowship. John Mark Comer describes it like this: “From coming together on Sunday for worship or eating a meal around a table to practicing confession to entering into spiritual direction, therapy, or mentorship – community is how we travel the Way together” (Practicing the Way). Community is experienced when we get to know each other well enough to be there to encourage, strengthen, or lift each other up when needed.

You may not think of Fellowship, or Community, as a spiritual practice, but they are. They are part of helping us to grow in our relationship with Jesus. This is one of the reasons that Hebrews 10 tells us to “not neglect meeting together… but to encourage one another”. They are practices we can choose to join into with purpose.

Fellowship and community are more than just being part of a church or attending every Sunday. Often, fellowship and community are experienced with a close friend or two, or in an intentional small group that meets regularly to help each other grow in their faith.

Stephen Macchia  suggests that fellowship and community are defined and experienced by the following:

  • Faithful presence
  • Honesty and transparency
  • Mutual submission
  • Confession and forgiveness
  • Joy: Laughter and tears
  • Listening and empathy
  • Attitude of gratitude

All of this can be summed up in being open and honest with a few people you trust so you can walk with them and they with you through your life journey with Jesus.

I encourage you to find a few good friends or join a small group, where you can get to know each other and care for each other in real, meaningful, and practical ways. Do this intentionally and you will be practicing fellowship and community as spiritual practices.

Watch for more on fellowship next week.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Train Yourself to Be Godly #5: Other Spiritual Practices of Prayer

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*Training yourself to be godly may include a rhythm of prayer and fasting, prayer and solitude, and listening or conversational prayer.

Last week, we talked about the spiritual practice of prayer. We have the privilege, as children of our heavenly Father, to talk with him about everything in our life. We can pray about all our concerns and thank him for all he has done for us.

There are a few other spiritual disciplines that are tied to prayer. It may be that you pray often, but haven’t tried some of the practices below. Or maybe you have tried them but have not intentionally made them part of the rhythms of your life. Check them out and ask God for direction on which one to try this week and which ones to incorporate into your walk with God.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Prayer

The first practice is simply prayer but being intentional about determining when and where and what you will pray about. You could develop a prayer list about whom or what to pray for and schedule a regular time of day to pray. If you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus, you need to pray.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Prayer and Fasting

Scripture is clear that fasting was part of people’s lives as they sought God – and usually prayer goes with the fasting. In the book of Esther, Esther asks Mordecai to tell her people to fast. She doesn’t ask them to pray, but that is the assumption – if they fast, they will be praying. They were fasting in order to hear from God and for God to give direction to Esther.

Fasting is simply going without food for a meal or two, or day or two. Some choose to fast for a week or more. Some emulate Jesus and his forty-day fast after his baptism. Some choose to fast by removing something else of importance from their life besides food, such as fasting from technology, or that special hot drink you like. The goal is to demonstrate that one’s desire for God is greater than our desires for other things.

You might want to include prayer and fasting in your walk with Jesus.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Prayer and Solitude

Payer is talking with God. At other times it is just sitting and resting in the presence of God. To be in solitude. This is a hard one!

We fill our lives with busyness and with people and noise. Maybe you want to practice the discipline of Solitude – just stopping and being with Jesus. Sometimes I see this as having coffee with Jesus. Grab a coffee and just sit in prayerful thought as if Jesus is right there having coffee with you. This is less about what you need from Jesus and more about just being in his presence.

Wait. Maybe Jesus will say something – impress a certain thought or scripture on your mind. Maybe even give you direction for the day.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Listening Prayer/Conversational Prayer

Very often, our prayer time is a time of giving God a list of requests and thanking him for what He has done. Sometimes we sit in solitude enjoying being in His presence.

We also need to take time to specifically listen to God. This is not about getting through my list and going on with my day, but taking time to ask God questions and wait for His answers. It is about listening for His still small voice, or a sense, or a reminder of a scripture.

For me, listening prayer works well with a journal, I write down my conversation – what I am saying and then what I think He is saying. I then ask another question to clarify or to learn more, like in any conversation.

I encourage you to slow down and spend time with God, listening and talking with, not just to, God.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe